24 March 2013

2013 NCAA Tournament: 3rd Round Sunday Predictions

The "2nd" Round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament is in the books and now these teams have a chance to get to the Regional Semifinals, or the Sweet Sixteen as kids these days like to call it. Who will survive and advance? Here are my picks for the Sunday games of the 3rd Round.

Iowa State looked really strong in taking out the Fighting Irish on Friday evening, and considering I am not in love with this Ohio State team, could I actually take the Cyclones. You know what, c'est la vie, give me ISU.
Pick: Iowa State

#1 Indiana vs. #9 Temple - East - Dayton

Temple has an excellent scorer in Khalif Wyatt but it is going to take a Herculean effort on his part if Temple wants to pull off a pretty big upset.
Pick: Indiana

#1 Kansas vs. #8 North Carolina - South - Kansas City

Boy did Kansas struggle to take out Western Kentucky but they were able to prevent an upset of historic proportions. And given a talented UNC team, you would think that Kansas would be ripe for an upset. But not this guy, give me the Jayhawks.
Pick: Kansas

#3 Florida vs. #11 Minnesota - South - Austin

Hey, Minnesota was able to take out the Bruins to get to this position, but the Bruins were a mess without Jordan Adams. They will have a rough go today against Florida.
Pick: Florida

#7 San Diego State vs. #15 Florida Gulf Coast - South - Philadelphia

Could FGCU become the first 15th seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen? I'd love to pick the Eagles but as I've mentioned, will they be able to regroup after that huge upset over Georgetown? I'm not sold, so give me the Aztecs.
Pick: San Diego State

#12 Ole Miss vs. #13 La Salle - West - Kansas City

Tell me you saw this matchup coming with one of these clubs headed to LA and the round of 16. I was impressed by both teams on Thursday, and while it is hard to go against Marshall Henderson and friends, give me La Salle to move on. Why not?
Pick: La Salle

#2 Miami vs. #11 Illinois - East - Austin

Illinois's game against the Buffaloes of Colorado in the 2nd round was a perfect micocosm of their season. They started very hot, had a really bad slump in which Colorado got right back in the game, and they were hit or miss the rest of the way in order to survive. Against a team as deep and talented as the Hurricanes, that is simply not going to work.

Pick: Miami

#2 Duke vs. #7 Creighton - Midwest - Philadelphia

Greg McDermott is the man but the way the Blue Jays play "defense" will prevent them from pulling off any kind of upset on Sunday night.
Pick: Duke